He has risen!!!!!

He has risen indeed!

It has been a great week of work and fellowship.

And today, Easter Sunday, we are looking forward to celebrating the resurrection of our Savior with Jamaican brothers and sisters.

We are very thankful for all of your prayers this week.

We prayed for EBC this morning.

Hallelujah, what a Savior we serve.

Lou regnier's blog post...

Here is Lou's blog post...

The great fellowship with each one of the young people and the older members of the team has been great.  I really enjoyed that part of it probably as much as anything.   meeting  people you didn't know and finding out who they are and working together has been fun.

The work has been tremendous.  we were scheduled to do tile floors in two rooms that were pretty good size.  I don't remember the dimensions off hand.   Some in the group did a wonderful job painting and this was two coats of primer and two coats of finish.  It was different colors on the columns and walls.  so it was a very intricate type of painting.

a great amount of work was accomplished.   

the building itself looks great.  six new windows and three doors were done.

additionally a balcony was tiled.

a lot of electrical was done.  there were several lights that were added.  the electicians did a great job in a challenging situation.  The college  has a wonderful safe electrical building.  

Our last work day...

Yesterday was our last day of work at Fairview Baptist Bible College.
We finished all of the projects they had for us and also some additional ones.

Today we are going to dunn's river falls http://www.dunnsriverfallsja.com/. 

Check later tonight for Lou's blog update.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Lou regnier's blog update.

Tiliing, shelf building, preaching and burglar bars....

We are much ahead of schedule work wise.

Ken and others at the school have been amazed  at how much we have done this week.

Continue to pray for our strength and protection

But even more than that,

Pray that we would glorify God.

K

We h

At the school...

The younger people of the group had the opportunity to share the Easter story in two public schools.

More pictures and videos to come.

Hello fellow readers! My name is Madeline Smith and I will be writing to you today about my experience so far on the wonderful island of Jamaica. It has definitely been a crazy 5 days so far. The teens and I have gone to two schools already and preached the good news to the children very clearly. It's amazing how much bible knowledge they have at such a young age. Yesterday's school experience in particular was amazing because we had the opportunity to actually intermingle with them before school started. They all flocked to our bus on jumping up and down with joy and huge smiles. Immediately they began taking each teen, as they exited the bus, away and started hugging on us and we were able to invest in their lives right their exchanging love to them while we were also receiving it. One girl in particular had a notepad full of tattoos.  she went around asking teens whether they would like one. She would place the whole sheet on your arm and take you to the water area which was made of cement and had 4-5 faucets on it.  it had a step made of cement for the kids to reach also. She then took your arm and placed it under the faucet patted it down to ensure that it was wet enough. Kids surrounded you as she worked magic. Once it was wet enough she would take you then to a place in the sun, still patting your arm as you moved, to check whether or not it was ready.  if it wasn't back to the faucets.  if it was, a beautiful tattoo would appear on your arm. I personally got roses and flowers.  others mainly got scorpions. We didn't want to leave when it was time to go.  you could definitely tell that the kids didn't want us to leave either. Back to the worksite we went. Each ride we endured was quite frightful. The roads were very curvy and tight especially when we were in the mountains which is where our worksite was located, forty-five minutes away from the missions hotel that we would stay at first.  thirty one people in a bus is crazy.  especially when we drive back from a long day of work in which we sweated beyond the normal amount that a person should. Even right now, halfway through the trip, people who didn't know each other that well have formed relationships with one another that will last a lifetime. I love this 2013 Jamaica Team that I have been blessed to be with and know that with this experience God either has or will continue to use us all to his will. Just remember one thing there's no problems man.  only situations. Ya man! :D Stay tuned to hear more about our trip here in Jamaica. See ya later man!!! 

Work at the college

Jason doing some tiling.

We are a painting machine.

First room finished.  Painted.  Tiled. Windows hung.

First day of work...

Almost finished painting

Phillip painting the burglar bars for the library.

Lou an Greg working on door stops

border jerk chicken stand.  Great chicken.

At Baylife Baptist Church

Phillip is very excited to be at Baylife

Jon and Melanie waiting for the service to start.

Pastor Shane introducing the team

With Pastor Andrew.

Overwhelmed

...with God's grace.  This morning, as I sat and had my quiet time in God's Word looking out over Montego Bay, I was reminded of God's overwhelming grace in my life.  Of course, as I thought of the people in Jamaica and around the world who need Christ, I was reminded of God's saving grace and forgiveness through Christ that has changed me for eternity, but I am also overwhelmed by the grace that God gives in every aspect of my life.  A few things that I thanked Him for today: His Church, the privlege of pastoring at EBC, the opportunity to lead our team to partner with Jamaicans for the Gospel, a great family, including a ministry minded wife, and a daughter that chose to spend her spring break with her dad on a missions trip, a great team of people from Emmanuel that want to change and grow while serving, and the privilege to serve The Lord with my friend Pastor David Rodgers.  I wrote many more things in my journal.  I would be glad to share them with you later.  Pray for us today, but don' forget to be overwhelmed...by His grace.
Pastor Shane

At Fairhaven

Jamaica link  check out Jamaica Link, an organization that helps mobilize churches in Jamaica.

In Jamaica at the airport...

Delayed in Atlanta...

At the airport in Detroit

We are here at the airport waiting for our flight.
Pray not only for safety as we travel but also for opportunities to glorify God!

Prayer requests from Joan, Renee and A.J.

From Joan...

I would like people to pray that we accomplish more than they expect – that we might be a blessing to others and safety and good health.  I am looking forward to meeting Jamaicans and getting to know their culture, as I really don’t know much about the people and their way of life.

From Renee...

1.   Safety – by plane, by bus, on the job site, in the community.

2.   Boldness - to talk with the Jamaicans, to encourage the believers and to share my faith with those who need Christ.

3.   Teamwork – to work effectively with others with a humble spirit.

I am looking forward to my first missions trip and my first venture beyond Nebraska.  

I am certain it will expand my view of the world and missions.  

I am looking forward to the ways in which God will stretch me... ways that I cannot even guess about right now.  

I am looking forward to ministering to others.  

And... I am looking forward to bright sunshine and warm weather.

From A.J....

As I'll be presenting the ending of the Gospel-Jesus' death and Resurrection, pray for clarity of speech and presentation, that Jesus would be seen as the Messiah/King! 

Also prayer for strength as this will be 10 days away from my family and girlfriend! I will miss them

Video from Ken and Clea Rathbun

Video from Ken and Clea Rathbun in Jamaica.

The library project is what our team will be working on 

at Fairview Baptist Bible College.